New to pumping - so many questions!

Hello!
I am completely new to pumping and am wondering and have so many questions!
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this...
I just started to pumping for 2 reasons. One - to prepare to go back to work (probably in another 8 weeks) and Two - so that my husband can feed our daughter once a day (baby is 4 weeks old). She took to the bottle easily (phew).

I was initially pumping (using Medela In Style double pump) for 20 minutes after the first feed in the morning. I was able to get about 3-4 oz total each time and have a little stock pile in the freezer. When my husband feeds the baby once a day with the bottle, I pump. Last night I got 4 oz out of each breast. Is it ok to stop pumping after feeding in the morning? And just continue pumping when baby is being bottle fed? How long should I pump for?

I am also wondering if I need to sterilize the pump parts and bottles after every use? I have the microwave steam bags and have been using immediately after pumping to clean. Is this necessary? Or will washing with soap and water suffice for daily use?
Also is it imperative that I clean immediately after pumping?
When I go back to work, I will be pumping more than once a day - will I need to fully clean between each pump?

Re: New to pumping - so many questions!

Welcome to the forum!

It's totally okay to stop pumping in the morning, and simply pump in the evening when your LO is getting a bottle. As long as you're able to fill tomorrow's bottle from the evening pump session, your supply is staying even with baby's needs and that's a good thing.

There's no one right answer to the question about how long you should pump. Some moms get the milk they need in just a few minutes, others will take 20 minutes or more to fills bottle. Stop pumping when you have the milk you need- whether that's 5 minutes or 25 minutes.

No need to sterilize everything more than occasionally. Soap and water wash will suffice for daily use. And there's no need to clean everything immediately after pumping. In fact, my LC suggested I save time and leave the pump unwashed, and reuse it the next time I needed to pump, and only wash it after the second use.

Re: New to pumping - so many questions!

Having enough milk in your freezer for the first day you are back at work would be great. Do you have that? If not, you might decide to go ahead and pump once a day.

Good for you not over-doing it -- that can cause oversupply problems.

Also, good for you continuing to nurse at the breast! Even when they're back at work, many moms try to make sure they nurse at the breast a lot, so that baby gets all the benefits of that (exchanging good and bad germs with mom, stimulating antibody production to meet baby's exact needs, proper palate development, preventing ear infections, etc.)